Steering problem :-(

hi guys. yesterday as i was driving through the snow to get home i had the strangest thing happen. the stering whel started to shake qute badly and whn i let go of it it pulled me into the hardshoulder. i pulled over and checked the steering system as best i could and all semed fine. there was about y-2mm of play in the o/s driveshaft. i rang my mechanic friend and he said that sounds ok so do u know what else it culd be? possible wheel bearing gone? there was no warning. it just happened. there was also a clunking noise with every turn of the wheel. any help is appreciated as i cant drive it to my mechanics place cos i am snowed in …. yes we finally have some snow :-D.

Jack it up on the corner it pulled to and give the wheel a wiggle see if you can hear the clunking there.

Its strange it pulled straight over to one side

If the wheel bearing has collapsed you should be able to see it with out jacking it, the wheel will slightly angle in at the top but then driving it shouldnt clunk it would be metal on metal grinding away inside and make a horrible noise before the wheel would eventually come off.

Clunking is usually to do with a bush going somewhere, the steering would shake if its out of line so would be worth checking the track rod end hasnt gone big time. That would put the wheel out of line and cause a shake
If it has gone you will need to get the tracking done again

it did fel like the driver side wheel was staying strait and the passenger side wheel was "flopping about" going wherever it wanted to go. after i pulled over then drove off again it stopped for about 5 mins. when it started again the speed didnt mae any difference. had the same problem at 30mph as at 60mph if that helps. i checked and the wheel seems strait enough. if it is track rod end is it difficult?

have just taken the wheel off and to be honest i cant see a problem. my neighbour came out to have a look as well and he couldnt see anything wrong either. the anti roll bar seems fine and all the bushes look ok. the wheel bearing is fine. the only thing with play in is the drive shaft and that is minimal. slightly confused now. i will take it for a drive if the snow clears and post back. any more suggestions of what it could be? :shock:

tbh though if your ARB DL is knackered you wont
be able to see anything wrong (unless its snapped)
If you can remove one end of the drop link
then you should be able to waggle the link
around to see how much play there is in its ball joints

my old ones were totally goosed and flopped around
alll over the place, were as the new ones you could
hardly move them!

no there is no movement or play in anything. im baffeled. i have ordered the antiroll bar because its a cheap part and will try fitting it later. will i need a crowbar or something similar to get it on?

just had the wheel off again and "tried" unbolting the antiroll bar linkage. the bottom bolt is rounded but the top bolt was intact. i started unbolting and kept unbolting for about 5 mins before i realise that the nu AND bolt were turning. i tried tightening it back up and saw ALOT of movement so i am guessing this is the cause of all the problems. i will take it to a garage whenever i can affordit. apparently it will feel alot worse than it actually is so its still drivable. thanks fo our help guys, i wouldn have had a clue if it werent for you guys

the bolt has an allen key slot in the top of it
so you can hold the bolt still with the allen key whilst you undo the nut.

but with what happened to me was the allen key will either round off
or bend before the nut will crack > I tried lots of different leverage
methods but to no avail thats why i had to resort to the disc cutter!